The development of emergency medicine in South Korea: academic productivity in highly cited journals

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the number of publications by South Korean emergency physicians in highly cited journals and the increase in their numbers. It also sought to assess the impact factors of such publications. Methods: The present study was a retrospective quantitative literature review of the publications by South Korean emergency physicians from 1996 to 2011 in the category of "emergency medicine" in the science edition of Journal Citation Reports 2011. We analysed the total number of articles published by South Korean emergency physicians and their impact factors. Results: Between 1996 and 2011, the number of South Korean board-certified emergency physicians increased from 51 to 958, and 230 articles were published in 14 highly cited journals. The total impact factor (IF) of the original articles published during that period was 227.86, and the mean IF was 1.93. More than 10 articles had been published annually in the past 5 years in highly cited journals and there were over 400 South Korean board-certified emergency physicians. Conclusions: Emergency medicine in South Korea started about 20 years ago, but academic productivity, indicated by at least ten articles annually in highly cited journals, was only achieved in the last five years. The mean IF of these articles was similar to that in other highly productive countries.

簡介：本研究的目的是探討韓國急診醫師在高被引期刊出版物的數量以及數量的增加。也試圖評估這些出版物的影響係數。方法：本研究是回顧性定量文獻綜述，包括韓國急診醫師由1996年至2011年，在期刊引用報告 2011 的理科版定義為「急診醫學」類的出版物。我們分析由韓國急診醫師發表的文章總數及其影響係數。結果：1996年至2011年，韓國有認證的急診醫師數量從51增加到958個，同時有230 篇文章發表在 14 高被引期刊。在此期間發表的原創文章的總影響係數（IF）為 227.86 ，平均IF 為1.93。過去的5年，韓國有超過400個有認證的急診醫師，而每年在高被引期刊發表的文章有10多篇。結論：韓國急診醫學大約在20年前開始，但學術生產力，達到每年在高被引期刊上發表至少十篇文章，僅在過去五年中實現。這些文章的平均影響 IF 與其他高生產力的國家相似。